The opening strophe of the parodos in Sophocles’ Trachiniae takes the form of a prayer to the sun. Many of its traditional hymnic features have already been noted, but one of them seems to have escaped the attention so far. In some Greek prayers - and in prayers from other Indo-European traditions as well - the appeal for the deity to come or to listen is accompanied by a list of the possible places the god might be in, phrased in (...) the following terms: “whether you are in A or in B or in C…”. In the specific case of the disjunctive clause in the Trachiniae (100-101), it is my contention that Sophocles, by syntactic and structural means, remodels this traditional prayer motif in order to achieve his literary purpose of exalting Heracles by asking of his whereabouts in a language reminiscent of a prayer addressed most properly to a deity. (shrink)

O principal objetivo do presente artigo é discutir o atual estado da questão sobre a etimologia do nome Dioniso. São examinadas as principais propostas a respeito e é sugerida uma ligação, até agora inédita, entre o teônimo e uma das atividades que compõem a esfera de ação de Dioniso -a dança. Nesse sentido, são indicadas ainda passagens no Rig Veda que talvez reforcem o laço já sugerido entre Dioniso e o deus Indra dentro da tradição indoeuropeia. This article aims chiefly (...) to discuss the status quaestionis regarding the etymology of Dionysus. The main theories thereon are analyzed and a new connection is put forward between the name of the god and one of his characteristic activities -dancing. In view of this, some passages of the Rig Veda are pointed out which might strengthen the bond already suggested between Dionysus and the god Indra within the Indo-European tradition. (shrink)

The month name Ἀγαγύλιος is attested in Thessaly and Achaia Phthiotis. Recently, excavations at a Thessalian temple of Apollo in Pythion, at the foot of Olympus, have brought to light numerous ex-votos dedicated to Apollo, Poseidon and to an Artemis whose epiclesis is Agagylaia. Neither the month name nor the epiclesis, which is certainly to be connected with the month name, has yet received an explanation.